


No More Excuses

by RealistTash



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 09:24:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealistTash/pseuds/RealistTash
Summary: Penelope is willing to let Josie use her if it means she gets to have her.Even if only for a short while.Even if it hurts.





	No More Excuses

“I need to go,” Josie sighs, her movements contradicting her words as her lips slide down Penelope's jaw, kissing the underside of it between words, “before Lizzie gets back.”

Penelope frowns at the name, because the last thing she wants to think about when Josie is on top of her is Lizzie fucking Saltzman. Instead, she shifts her hands under Josie's shirt and lightly scratches at her lower back, relishes in the small moan. “Just a few more minutes.” 

If this is all the time she gets with Josie, the small, secret kisses in the dark, the close contact, the... benefits that Josie is allowing her to have, she'll take what she can get and she's damn well going to make the most of it. 

She feels Josie smile against the curve behind her ear and Penelope wants it to mean that she's staying, wants it to mean that Josie wants to stay.

Knows that wishful thinking is in vain. 

Knows what is coming. 

“You know I can't.” 

Penelope huffs slightly. After these last couple of weeks she'd somehow began to convince herself that Josie was finally, finally putting herself first, but obviously she was wrong. So she sighs and gently pushes Josie away. “Yeah,” she rolls her eyes, “I know.” 

“Come on, Pen-”

“It's fine,” she lies, “Lizzie needs you, right? She always does.” 

Josie shakes her head as she sits up, stands from the bed and begins to readjust herself in Penelope's full length mirror so that she doesn't look like she's been making out with her ex for the past hour. “It's not like that any more.” 

That's a fucking lie if she's ever heard one, but she closes her eyes and takes a breath because she's tired. Tired of the arguing and the back-and-forth snipes. Tired of trying to convince Josie that she's better than Lizzie's go-to. 

She's just... tired. 

Her eyes reopen slowly, travel from Josie's exposed legs, to the skirt that barely reaches her thighs, the blazer that fits around her frame perfectly, her sleek neck, the way her shirt falls just shy of her hips through the mirror and then into doe eyes that are staring back at her knowingly. “See something you like?”

Penelope bites her lip, refusing to back down from the challenge, chooses to go in a different direction than the expected 'you know I do' line. “I always forget how tall you are.”

Josie chuckles, takes her hair out of the tie since it's all messed up and neatens it. “I'm not, you're just short, it's why you wear heels all the time.” 

“I seem to recall a time you liked me in my heels.” She sits up herself, knees on the edge of the bed as her hands find Josie's hips to pull her back enough so that her lips rest against Josie's ear as she stares at her through the mirror. “Just my heels,” she adds in a low whisper. Josie shudders and Penelope smirks before she brings the lobe of Josie's ear between her teeth, nibbles a little in the way she knows Josie likes and smirks around it when Josie inhales a shaky breath. “If you stay I could remind you exactly what it used to do to you.” 

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” Penelope's forehead creases in confusion as Josie glares at her through the reflection.

Josie huffs, “talk to me like it wasn't you that broke things off.” Penelope blinks, moves away, and Josie lets out a sarcastic laugh when she doesn't receive an answer. “See you later, Pen.” 

Penelope's helpless as she watches Josie leave, not once looking back, before she slumps back down into her bed and groans into her pillow.

-

Josie avoids her.

Again.

For a week.

This little habit of hers is beginning to annoy.

Penelope plays with the flowers under a tree that the two of them used to call their spot, switches from making the petals change colour, to closing and opening the bud, to reducing them to their seed state before she blooms them until they're withered. 

It's a little trick she learned back when she was too impatient to wait until they were in season to pick them out for Josie. In Josie's favourite colours, of course. 

“What would people say if they knew the resident mean girl loved playing in the daisies?”

The question should startle Penelope, but she sensed Josie hesitating to come over a while ago and she smirks as she makes the flowers healthy again. “You know full well they're azaleas,” she says as she picks off one of the petals and flicks it away before she looks up at Josie, “I did plant them for you after all.” 

“You never did tell me how you found out they were my favourite.”

Penelope winks, “and I never will.” Josie rolls her eyes and sits opposite her. “So, you done avoiding me again?”

Josie plays with her fingers nervously, “I need a favour.” Penelope's eyebrows raise in shock, but she doesn't speak. “This new monster... it's... it's a big one, and the spell we need, well it requires a lot of magic.”

Oh. “You want to siphon from me,” she states, rather than questions. Josie nods. “This entire school is a siphoning ground for you, JoJo.” 

“I know, but I always got the most power from you.” 

And it was always so intense. Honestly? Penelope misses the feelings she also gained from it. It made her feel dizzy, as though oxygen was being cut off to her brain, endorphins running crazily around her body, like she was on the highest of highs even without her magical sex weed. She plays the sudden rush of memories off as she sighs in faux disinterest and extends her hand, “fine. Go for it.” 

Josie shakes her head at the hand offered to her, “not like that.”

Of course not like that. What was Penelope thinking? Because there was absolutely nothing platonic about the way Josie used to pull what she needed from her.

Admittedly, the majority of the time they played around with siphoning had nothing to do with Josie actually needing to do it and more about wanting to. 

Penelope gulps, falters as Josie notices and stands, brushes the dirt away from her skirt, leans back against the tree and looks pointedly at a still sitting Josie. “Well? What are you waiting for?” Josie follows her, eyes darting between the ground and the tree as though wondering why Penelope wants to not be laying down for this. 

There's no chance in hell she'll ever tell Josie it's because it will feel too intimate, too much like it used to be. 

It can't be like the old times, because Josie is simply doing this for power and nothing else. When Josie leaves this time, Penelope doesn't want to feel anything other than a mission accomplished. 

As Josie stands in front of her, Penelope can see the hesitation back in her gaze, confirmed as Josie breathes out her name, “Pen-”

“Do it,” she growls in a low voice, “take it.” Josie swallows hard, composes herself and leans forward to kiss Penelope gently. But Penelope doesn't want gentle. Doesn't want slow or soft or nice. Can't want that. If she does, it's going to leave her feeling even more used than she already is. She grips onto Josie's collar, pulls away and growls again. “Take. It.”

For once, Josie seems to understand, and with a rapid nod, her lips fuse with Penelope's, raw and hard, biting and bruising, teeth knocking against each other as Penelope's grip tightens enough to crease Josie's collar and Josie's hands squeeze at Penelope's hips as she pushes her further into the tree. 

It's exactly what Penelope needs. 

She doesn't mean to moan, she really, really doesn't, but as soon as Josie whimpers at the first taste of magic transferring, it leaves her anyway. 

God, it's even better than she remembers. Whether that's because of how heated it is this time, or the fact it's been so long, she couldn't say. All she knows is that she has this sudden craving to pull Josie closer, which is how her arms end up snaked around the back of Josie's neck as though she's clinging onto her for dear life as her energy drains more and more with each passing second. 

Josie's fingers trail up Penelope's side, the hot blaze following, before her mouth slides down to Penelope's neck and she begins to suck, bite, Penelope's head slamming back against the tree as her whole body burns, as Josie pants and whines between nips.

An explosion from the distant school shocks Penelope out of her desire, eyes shooting open, and tries to pull away, but Josie growls into her neck and she's too dizzy to really care what's going on because it's a sound Josie only lets out on the rare occasion Penelope takes her teasing too far.

Took. Took her teasing too far. 

Still, some realistic part of her brain isn't completely scrambled and she hates herself for it. “I think that's your cue.” 

Dark eyes meet hers, Josie's pupils completely blown and all that's left is a sliver of brown in an otherwise obsidian gaze. A gaze that causes Penelope to shiver. Josie kisses her once more, gentle again like she's apologising for the rough treatment.

Penelope wishes she wouldn't, finds herself wanting more of it. 

With one last kiss, it feels as though Josie pulls the remainder of her magic out of her before another explosion blasts through the air. By the time she pulls back, there's a bit more colour in Josie's eyes and she shoots Penelope a soft smile as she runs off towards the action.

Once Josie's warmth is gone, Penelope realises how shaky her legs are and she slumps against the tree in an attempt to keep herself from tumbling to the ground, chest heaving as she tries to control her breathing and ghosts her fingers across the reddening bruise forming on her neck, licks her lips and winces at the copper taste of blood from where Josie bit down a little too hard, looks up to the sky. “Fuck.”

-

A knock on her door two days later distracts her from her reading. 

She already knows who it is, like it would be anyone else at this point. 

Penelope wordlessly opens the door and stands to the side to allow a sheepish looking Josie inside, stares at her as Josie stands in the middle of the room and plays with a loose thread on her sweater. 

“So what's the excuse this time?” Josie tilts her head in a frown, silently asking Penelope to explain. “Well the first time you kissed me it was because you said you were feeling vulnerable after the graveyard incident.” She steps closer. “Then it was the parasite.” Shrugs. “Then you, and I quote, 'needed a distraction'.” Another step until they're face-to-face. “And then I was the only option for siphoning. Apparently.” Josie looks away to the floor. “I guess I'm curious to see what the excuse is now, because you're running out of them, JoJo.” 

“I came here to apologise,” Josie mumbles, “for, you know, using you like that. It wasn't fair of me.” 

Penelope sits on the bed, crosses her legs and quirks a brow, “I wasn't pushing you away.” 

Josie sighs and sits next to her, “I could see it in your eyes, Pen. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it. It was... it was pretty mean, actually.” 

“You're forgiven,” she states firmly, “is that all?” 

“No.” Penelope rolls her eyes. “You still love me.” 

She works her jaw, clears her throat, “I never tried to hide that.” Josie bites her lip and reaches into her pocket, pulls out a familiar folded piece of paper and Penelope gulps, “I thought you said you weren't going to read that.”

“I didn't,” is the response, “not until last night.” Josie reaches over to take Penelope's hand and squeezes it. “I miss you. I miss you so much and it's killing me that I let you go. It's the worst decision I've ever made in my life so can we, can we please just start over?” Josie reads from the note, and it's only one part of the much bigger heartfelt apology in her hand. “I don't want to start over, Pen.” 

Penelope rips her hand away, “yes, you've made that perfectly clear.” 

“No, no,” Josie is quick to retract, “I mean, we can't start from scratch. Too much has happened and we can't just... forget about it. I don't want that. If... if we're going to do this, we need to talk about everything. Starting over won't work for us, we're in too deep.”

“We are?” Penelope smirks and Josie tuts at her with a smile threatening her lips. “Okay, so where do we go from here?” 

Josie hums, tugs the back of Penelope's neck to follow as she lays on the bed and pulls Penelope on top of her, “we'll figure it out in the morning. Can you just be with me right now?” 

“In the morning?” Josie nods, smiles when Penelope's hair falls to frame them both from the outside world. “No excuses?”

“No excuses.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think.


End file.
